


put together

by takayama (machogwapito)



Category: Ringu | The Ring - All Media Types
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, M/M, i love college era fools, set before the novels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 05:24:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6066816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/machogwapito/pseuds/takayama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryuji has it put together. Except when he doesn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	put together

**Author's Note:**

> i love rarepairs
> 
> i also don't know what this is about but take it

Ryuji has it put together.

Of course he does.

That's what he is, after all: the cool, composed genius. There's nothing he can't accomplish if he puts his mind to it and that's just the way things are meant to be.

His grades are sky-high. His record for running a mile is five minutes and thirty-two seconds. His professors smile at him when he passes them by in the hall.

Ryuji has it put together.

Except when he doesn't.

* * *

Mitsuo's fingers are rough and Ryuji doesn't understand why they would be. He's a bookworm through and through and Ryuji's the athletic one between them. Chances are Mitsuo's mile-running record is nine minutes--Ryuji calculated it by watching the way he walks.

Still, his fingers (and even his palms) are rough. Ryuji feels it in the thumb that traces his cheek. He feels it when all the other fingers follow the curve of his ear. He feels it when a hand cups his face more confidently than it did all the other times they tried doing this and failed.

It's not just Mitsuo's fingers Ryuji doesn't understand. It's the way his eyes soften when Ryuji frowns at him. It's the way he laughs when Ryuji questions why lips on his neck tickle him the way they do. It's the way he makes Ryuji's face burn when he says that it's because good feelings tend to feel like bubbles. It's the way he doesn't even flinch when Ryuji argues that Mitsuo doesn't make him feel _good_ , there's no need to get _cocky_.

Mitsuo is the only thing Ryuji can't compute.

But nothing makes the bubbles spill as much as Mitsuo makes the bubbles spill.

Ryuji never thought that unlocking his code meant Mitsuo would unlock all the other bits of him, too.

* * *

Mitsuo snores when he sleeps. If Ryuji changes the way his shoulders are set, then Mitsuo becomes quiet until he snores again. It usually takes any amount of time between half an hour to an hour for that to happen.

Mitsuo's room is small. It smells like instant noodles, coffee, and the laundry soap Ryuji got him for a celebratory thesis proposal well-done.

Mitsuo's bed is small. It smells like instant noodles, pine air freshener, and human sweat (probably because it's summertime).

Mitsuo's pyjamas are big. They smell like the laundry soap Ryuji got him and Ryuji. And Mitsuo, too.

When Mitsuo has good dreams, he drools. When he has bad ones, his brows furrow.

Ryuji has gotten used to how rough his hands are when he holds them in his own.

And when Mitsuo has best dreams, he smiles.

* * *

Ryuji has most of it put together.

He has a routine that starts at seven in the morning and ends any time between ten in the evening and midnight, provided he doesn't have exams. He makes sure he eats enough protein to build muscle, but not enough to make himself sick. He buys just the right amount of paper at the store every time he has a paper assignment to submit and there's never any left over.

Mitsuo kisses him five minutes past midnight outside of hell week and everything Ryuji's put together falls apart.

He's a fast learner, though. That's what cool, composed geniuses usually are. He learns it's all right not to know everything. He learns it's all right not to know why chapped lips on his own are nice. He learns it's all right not to know why rough hands make him shiver, or why he can't shut up about how Mitsuo should brush his teeth.

Mitsuo ought to have the answer, he surmises. He's the some to Ryuji's most.

They're smart, so they have it put together.

Of course they do.


End file.
